Industry Scan

By | May 1, 2000

L-3, Sextant Buy TCAS from Honeywell

As part of the post-merger plan to divest the overlapping products of Honeywell and AlliedSignal, Honeywell agreed in March to sell its traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) product line to L-3 Communications for approximately $255 million in cash. Honeywell will keep the AlliedSignal TCAS system. As a result of this acquisition, another agreement was signed between L-3 and Sextant, a subsidiary of Thomson-CSF, to form a joint venture company specifically for the TCAS line.

Sextant would purchase a 30% interest in the new business for approximately $80 million, but the company’s share could rise to 40% or 50%, Sextant Avionique Chairman and CEO François Lureau told Avionics Magazine.

With its new TCAS line, Lureau explained that Sextant would be able to fulfill all customer needs. Sextant will handle marketing of the TCAS line for the air transport sector.

Northwest Airlines recently purchased nine Litton LTN-92 inertial navigation systems for installation on three newly-acquired DC-10-30s. Meanwhile, Air China will equip four of its B747-200s with the system, replacing the older LTN-72 INS. And Lufthansa Technik has ordered three LTN-92s for installation on a Saudia B747 aircraft, replacing older LTN-72RL INS.

Another Litton system, the plug-and-play LTR-97 vertical and directional gyro, was selected for retrofit on oil company ARCO’s fleet of two B737 corporate aircraft. Alaska Airlines is overseeing the installation in Alaska, where the planes will be used for transport to and from oil fields.

In other news, Litton enhanced its product support by offering support for corporate operators using its INSs. It now offers 24-hour exchanges and fixed price repairs for LTN-72 Systems.

Sandel Avionics LLC received certification from Germany’s Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) for its SN3308 series of electronic horizontal situation indicators (EHSI). The SN3308 series was already approved in the United States under TSO 113b.

Sandel Avionics of Vista, Calif., may be reached by phone at 760-727-4900. DAC International, Austin, Texas, is Sandel’s International distributor.

Lufthansa Adds WSI

Weather Services International (WSI) has added Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines to its list of airlines using its Internet and Web-browser driven weather briefing services. Lufthansa’s operations staff and crew dispatch briefing center in Frankfurt now has access to WSI’s PILOTbrief International (http://try.pilotbrief.com), which, since its launch in 1998, has been used by more than 50 airlines.

The service allows the user to create and retrieve packages for specific routes by employing the Internet and standard PCs equipped with a browser. Options include global weather satellite imagery, radar imagery, and color-enhanced charts for weather, wind and temperature, fog, icing, turbulence and cyclones.

PRAM for IFE

Heads Up Technologies of Carrollton, Texas, has entered into an agreement with Rockwell Collins to provide Heads Up Technologies’ PBS600 Digital Pre-Recorded Announcement Machine (PRAM) to airlines as part of Rockwell Collins Passenger Systems’ in-flight entertainment system.

The PBS600 can store safety messages, promotional briefings, and other in-flight service messages in up to 63 languages. The unit saves up to seven hours of digital audio in its memory and can play back high-quality audio files.

For more information about the Heads Up Technologies or the PBS600, call 972-407-1131 or visit the Website at www.heads-up.com.

Display Gets STC

Avidyne announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has granted a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the AvroTec Flightmonitor FMP 300 display on-board the new Lancair Columbia 300 aircraft. FAA’s stamp of approval brings large format, glass cockpit capability to general aviation aircraft. See www.avidyne.com.

In-Flight Entertainment

LiveTV Uses XM

LiveTV has entered into a 10-year agreement with XM Satellite Radio to offer XM’s family of radio programming to airline passengers across the United States as of 2001. LiveTV will incorporate XM-Ready receivers into its new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, sell the XM service directly to commercial airlines, and market and promote XM as part of its IFE service.

Rockwell Collins and News Corp. have formed a joint venture, the In Flight Network (IFN). It will provide live television, recorded video, audio, Internet and e-mail services to airline passengers, both in-flight and on the ground, around the world.

The advertiser-supported IFN, which is slated for deployment late next year, will be the world’s first global in-flight entertainment network to offer live coverage of news, sports and entertainment events, in addition to recorded audio/video programming and broadband Internet access. The IFN airborne system utilizes Rockwell Collins Integrated Information System (I2S).

Smiths Industries announced its second acquisition of the year: the $100-million (ï¿½63-million) purchase of BAE Systems North America’s subsidiary, Actuation Systems. This transaction follows the $175-million acquisition of the aerospace division of Invensys plc, which was completed in late January. Further information is available at www.smiths-industries.com.

Air Traffic Control

Tracking in Japan

Rannoch Corp. of Alexandria, Va., sold a multistatic surveillance system to an unnamed private Japanese group to track aircraft around the Tokyo metropolitan area. The system is scheduled for deployment this spring and will become part of an aircraft surveillance network using Rannoch’s Airscene aircraft tracking system.

The AirScene system is a collective network of high-fidelity remote sensors, which are connected to a central processor using various media. AirScene tracks and monitors aircraft in real-time for various applications–from airport surface movement tracking to aircraft noise monitoring.

Representing phase one of the Finnish Air Traffic Management Integration (FATMI) program to modernize Finland’s air traffic control (ATC) system, two control centers, in Rovaniemi and in the capital city of Helsinki, have started service. Another upgraded ATC system will be deployed at Tamperem, and 24 airports will be modernized during FATMI’s phase two, scheduled for completion at the end of this year.

Meanwhile, The Preston Group (TPG), Richmond, Australia, recently delivered to Finland’s Civil Aviation Administration a Total Airspace & Airport Modeller (TAAM) for a one-year lease, with option to buy. This gate-to-gate simulation tool is used for analysis, airspace redesign and planning. The lease also would have TPG perform a study of Helsinki Vantaa airport, including use of a new third runway.

And, for Frankfurt International Airport in Germany, a 9.2 million Euro ($9.1-million) contract for a TACSYS/CAPTS ground movement system, which will include a multilateration capability furnished by Sensis Corp., DeWitt, N.Y.

Raytheon Systems Co. and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) have each been awarded contracts to provide air traffic management (ATM) system development and integration for the Aerospace Directorate at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The contracts’ worth is a maximum $150 million.

Contract requirements will be stated in performance-based task orders for research and development, studies and activities for ATM concepts and automation. Contracts will start at date of award and will end at fiscal year 2004. For further information, visit the NASA Ames Public Affairs home page at http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/dx.

Defense

Test Driving the JSF

In a program simulating all sensor systems of the Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin reported that nine military pilots participated in a "test drive" in the new Virtual Battlefield Management Center, which demonstrated the survivability and effectiveness of the future fighter craft.

"The success of these exercises gives us great confidence in our proposal for the next program phase and should substantially reduce risk in the areas of lethality, survivability and total program affordability," says Frank J. Cappuccio, vice president and JSF program manager.

The 7,000-square-foot center includes two fully-equipped JSF cockpit stations with all-aspect, high-resolution visual systems, and four manned control stations for adversaries or additional friendly aircraft.

Flight evaluation of the demonstrator aircraft is scheduled to take place this year, and government selection of a single contractor for the engineering and manufacturing development phase is set for 2001. See www.lockheedmartin.com or www.jsf.com.